Maroney running out of time in Patriots’ backfield

The team’s patience with Laurence Maroney must be nearing an end as he heads into his fifth season, the final year on the contract he signed as a highly touted rookie coming out of the University of Minnesota. At a time when the veteran should be heading toward his prime, the Pats are still forced to take the running back-by-committee approach.

If it were an ideal football world in Foxboro, Laurence Maroney would be running the ball 20 times per game.

Instead, he is simply running out of time.

While Maroney hasn’t been the second coming of Leon “Wrong Way” McQuay, who rushed for 47 yards on 33 carries for a 1.4-yard average back in 1975, he hasn’t made folks forget Corey’s Dillon’s franchise-record setting campaign of 2004 (1,635 yards), either.

For the better part of three seasons, those critical of Maroney (hello, self) complained that he ran too tentatively. That was preferable, however, to what transpired last year.

Last season, Maroney’s hands, rather than his legs, became the issue.

Heading toward the fifth and final year of the deal he signed his rookie season, Maroney has yet to show he’s the answer to the Patriots’ running game. On the contrary, Maroney heads into his contact year still prompting more questions than answers.

More, so much more, was expected when the Patriots made the University of Minnesota running back their first-round pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.

To this point in his career, Maroney has neither backed his selection with the 21st choice overall nor earned those 20 carries per game.

“It’s just one of those things that I’ve just got to go out there and earn my carries,” Maroney said on the first day of training camp. “Just because I was a first-rounder, just because it’s my fifth year, doesn’t mean I deserve anything. You’ve got to earn everything. So I’m at the point where if I want 20 carries, I’ve got to come out here and earn my 20 carries.”

Through four seasons with the Patriots, Maroney has averaged 12.9 carries per game played (582 attempts in the 45 regular-season games in which he’s appeared).

At a time when Maroney should be carrying the load, he is merely the leading ball carrier on a committee that includes Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor, Kevin Faulk and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.

Over his four years in New England, Maroney has gained 2,430 yards – an average of 54 per game and 1,503 fewer than he gained in three seasons before leaving Minnesota as the second-leading rusher in school history with 3,933 yards.

Beyond that, as time has progressed, there have been diminishing returns from Maroney’s gains. He averaged 4.4 yards per carry over his first two years with the Patriots and has averaged 3.8 over the last two.

On the plus side, it could be said that Maroney rebounded from the shoulder injury that limited him to three games in 2008 with 757 yards – the second-highest total of his NFL career, but still not exactly Chris Johnson-esque – and a career-best nine touchdowns on the ground last season.

On the minus side, Maroney fumbled the ball away four times, none more devastating than one in Indianapolis as he was heading for the end zone, and while he seemed to hit the hole with more of a purpose, the numbers don’t show it. His 3.9-yard-per-carry average was a career low aside from his 3.3 in 2008 when he was limited to 28 attempts.

Page 2 of 2 - “I can do a lot (to improve),” Maroney admitted. “Working on my physical shape (for one thing). I’m in good shape, (but) I feel like I can always get better. I know the offense, but just learning more to run read, learning more (about) the offensive line (and) how they’re going to block the play and just being more patient in the running game and running more physically (are other areas for improvement).”

How ironic.

At a time when Maroney speaks of being more patient in the running game, the Patriots have to be running out of patience with his ability to run with the ball.